Whelan's brace not enough for battling St. Malachy's

A Garrycastle side minus the services of several recognised stars kept alive their hopes of automatic qualification to the semi-finals of this year's Westmeath SFC with a three-point victory over a struggling St Malachy's at Tang on Sunday - but manager Anthony Cunningham will not be getting carried away by his team's performance here.Although Garrycastle had too much going forward for pointless St Malachy's - with young Shane Mulvihill and Alan Daly doing much of the damage - Cunningham will perhaps be somewhat concerned at the reigning champions lacklustre approach to defending, with St Malachy's twice finding the back of Cathal Mullins' net, and also having another goal ruled out in slightly unfortunate circumstances.Garrycastle - who were missing the likes of Mark McCallon, Aidan Browne, Gary Dolan and Paddy Mulvihill - never looked in any danger and will be very satisfied to see seven difference players contribute to their scoring tally. But they will need to defend better and much tighter during the latter stages of this year's championship.However, the Athlone side also have a perfect record to date in the defence of the Pat Flanagan Cup, adding the scalp of St Malachy's to prior wins over Tyrrellspass and The Downs, and are almost guaranteed at least a spot in the quarter-finals, with two group games to come against Castledaly and Mullingar Shamrocks.St Malachy's, meanwhile, are now facing an uphill struggle to salvage this year's senior campaign, and although they played fairly well at times against Garrycastle, they now look to be in a two-way battle with Tyrrellspass to avoid finishing bottom of the group.Garrycastle came storming out at the beginning of this match and racked-up and impressive five points, without reply, in the opening ten minutes. St Malachy's simply couldn't contain 'Castle, who had excellent contributions from Shane Mulvihill, Alan Daly and Dessie Dolan during this period.The opening score saw Dolan and Mulvihill combine to set up Daly, who made no mistake with a straightforward kick over the bar. Dolan and Seanie O'Donoghue then found space for Mulvihill to kick the first of his four points. With just less than five minutes played, Dolan again set up Mulvihill and he slotted yet another point, leaving Malachy's in disarray at such an early point in proceedings.A minute later, Garrycastle were four points to the good, with James Dolan pointing after much of the graft-work was done by Conor Cosgrove.Moments later, Malachy's threatened for the first occasion but Tom McHugh made a superb block to prevent a certain point for Alan Mangan.Westmeath senior star Doran Harte then set up Mulvihill for another well-taken point, before Daly saw a fierce low drive well kept out by Malachy's goalkeeper Gary Jackson.At 0-5 to 0-0 down, the Black and Reds' injected life into their performance with a confidence-boosting goal. John Gaffey misjudged a hopeful long punt forward by strong midfielder Paddy Corcoran and Sean Whelan capitalised to go around Mullins and bury the ball into the back of the net, leaving the scoreline 0-5 to 1-0 in Garrycastle's favour with twelve minutes played. The sides then swapped misses, with Ronan Whelan shooting disappointingly wide before Dessie Dolan's fine effort struck the woodwork and was cleared by a frantic Malachy's defence.Garrycastlego further aheadIn the 20th minute, Garrycastle stretched the lead to three points courtesy of another point by Mulvihill, but Malachy's replied in quick fashion through Corcoran.With 24 minutes played, O'Donoghue was fouled and Dolan made no mistake in converting the resulting free, before Karl Henson became the first player to be booked. Mulvihill was everywhere during the first half and a nice link-up with Rory McGowan also brought another point for the talented young player, but this time his effort was marginally off-target. The opening half ended with Daly neatly pointing a free, leaving the county champions in front by 0-8 to 1-1 at the interval.Again, Garrycastle were quicker to get out of the blocks than Malachy's, and made another fine start to the second half. Paul Dillon did well to set up Daly and the man known as 'the Dollar' made no mistake in pointing.Four minutes in, O'Donoghue showed good technique to push Garrycastle ahead by six, before Malachy's got a point back in the shape of Tommy Carey.That joy was short-lived though, as Garrycastle registered the next two points through Rory McGowan and Dessie Dolan, the latter's a superb sideline kick from the right touchline that sailed straight over the bar.Ronan Whelan got a point back in the 40th minute, but the hard-working Cosgrove restored Garrycastle's seven point advantage.Daly expanded Garrycastle's lead further still, before Malachy's grabbed a second goal of the game, when Sean Whelan notched his second goal of the game following a free-flowing three-man move. Mangan then added a point to reduce the deficit further.Garrycastle's lead could have been down to a single point when Ronan Whelan came crashing through their defence and buried a low shot into the bottom corner of the goal, but referee Brendan Keena had already blown (before Whelan struck his shot) for over-carrying.Two converted frees by Mangan gave Malachy's more heart, before Garrycastle were awarded a penalty with 12 minutes left, when substitute Alo Geoghegan was punished for a foul on Daly. James Duignan's shot struck the woodwork.Wides by Dolan and O'Donoghue kept Malachy's in the contest and they battled really hard to stay in touch with Garrycastle. However, Daly punched over a late point to give his team a three-point as the final whistle blew.Scorers - Garrycastle: A Daly 0-5 (2f), S Mulvihill 0-4, D Dolan 0-2 (1f), J Dolan, S O'Donoghue, R McGowan, C Cosgrove 0-1 each. St Malachy's: S Whelan 2-0, A Mangan 0-3 (2f), P Corcoran, R Whelan, T Carey 0-1 each.Garrycastle: Cathal Mullins; John Gaffey, Enda Mulvihill, Tom McHugh; Doran Harte, Karl Henson, James Dolan; James Duignan, Seanie O'Donoghue; Shane Mulvihill, Dessie Dolan, Rory McGowan, Alan Daly, Paul Dillon, Conor Cosgrove.St. Malachys: Gary Jackson; Paul Newman, David Langan, Diarmuid Garvan; John Gallagher, Tommy Carey, Aonghus Clarke; Paddy Corcoran, David Lynam; Darren Ruane, Shane Carey, Kieran Favier, Alan Mangan, Ronan Whelan, Sean Whelan. Subs: Neil Kirby for Ruane (32 mins), Barry Whelan for Lynam (36), Blaine Leharte for Corcoran (40), Alo Geoghegan for Newman (42).Referee: Brendan Keena (Ballynacargy).